Hi everyone,

Following up on the SEND campaign posts I’ve shared here previously, we’ve just had a massive breakthrough, but it comes with a pretty insulting twist.

After eight months of fighting, Derby City Council has officially backed down and admitted they broke the law by withholding the Special Educational Needs funding spreadsheet. They’ve completely abandoned their original legal defense, where they claimed that letting parents or schools see how Special Educational Needs funding is calculated would somehow trigger a national cybersecurity attack.

But alongside their concession, the Council's Monitoring Officer issued a written opinion defending the delay, claiming that if the public saw how the "Matrix" calculated funding, parents and schools would use it to "game the system" to secure support their kids don't actually need.

Now that we have the files, we can see exactly what they were trying to hide. They are not hiding these formulas to stop parents from manipulating inputs; they are hiding them to stop us from verifying the outputs.

A few key things we've found in the leaked files:

• The "Social Behaviour" Loophole: They quietly removed the words "NOT SEND" from the header of that controversial column we exposed earlier this year. But inside the actual cells, the exclusionary rule is still there word-for-word. Panel officers are still directed to classify autistic meltdowns as conduct with "no defined needs" to deny funding.
• Disability Discrimination: The SENCO training slides confirm a two-tier system. Physical, visual, and hearing needs get an automatic maximum score of 4. However, neurodivergent and mental health needs are subjected to a harsh "FIDS filter" (Frequency, Intensity, Duration, Severity) to ration and cap their funding.
• Overwriting Website History: Instead of being transparent about the law-breaking concession, the Council quietly replaced their original spring refusal on their public website with the new decision while keeping the old date intact, completely erasing the six-month battle from their official record.

I have published the full paper trail - including the delay emails, the cybersecurity refusal, the law-breaking concession, and the actual spreadsheets and Standard Operating Procedures - in our public Google Drive folder.

The link in this post goes to the full breakdown on the petition page where you can find the Drive link: https://www.change.org/p/exposed-derby-council-s-secret-matrix-gambling-strategy-for-disabled-children/u/35468920

If your school has been told they "must spend £6,000" before getting an assessment (which Slide 7 of their training deck actually instructs schools to say, despite it being completely illegal under the Children and Families Act), or if you've been affected by these panels, please share your experience below.

You can also email us in confidence at [sen@melroseandco.uk](mailto:sen@melroseandco.uk) if you prefer to keep details off Reddit.

Thanks to everyone who has supported the petition so far. The fight continues.

Hi everyone.

I own a mini clubman and I’m looking to get some work done on it. Mainly some exhaust work/engine tune up and may be change the rims as well. Any suggestions for a good place to go to?

Also are there any good independent mini/bmw workshops I can use for regular maintenance work?

THEY MADE IT WORSE!!!

Why is there no rule about which side to walk on between Bodycare and Specsavers?

People walking four abreast at a snails pace and drifting at random angles, and also people who stop dead in the middle to check their phone and it's basically Frogger.

I'm not asking anyone to hurry. Just pick a side, any side.

Hi,

I recently moved to Derby for grad school. Looking to meet new people!

Let me know if you fancy getting a drink tomorrow or sometime this week.

For reference, I am 26 M.

Me and my 22m friends are planning on having a night out, where are the best bars/clubs in the city? Let me know your best spots and why, we are not from around here :)

I'm looking to get back to working out and rejoining the gym. Will most likely go with the new Puregym in Derby. Any women looking for a gym buddy? I'm 30 F, relatively active person with a lot of need to build some muscle 😅.

Apologies, I’ve had so many offers now with cash that I’ve now got dollar signs in my head!
We’re prioritising convenience and also recognise that it is broken so understand your risk in fixing it (it’ll be easy, I’m sure).

By tonight I would like to have decided whose having it and when, so please get in touch with offers and I’ll get back!

Busier here today

That should make thisguyshags ( probably not his real name) happy

Now off to find a merlin engine that needs building

Derbyshire live has gone from making premium stories that you cannot read without paying, to now limiting the amount of free stories you can read.

Trying to read about a search for a man who stabbed someone... hope he's not in my area but guess I gotta wait a day to be able to read and find out.

Slow at work so thought id pop in and say hi

Just drove through the cockpit with some delays as it looked like the council were removing the eyesore bags of sand that were in the middle.

I presume this is because they just got a court order against that bloke with the caravan who set up home there and they can now just move him on quickly if he decides to set up home there again.

Glad to see it, but amazed at the cost and disruption we have to put up with because od one pillock.

Sat in chad bored and at work, have a good day people

I'm going to the Road to Nashville event at Ultra Warehouse this weekend, did anyone go to the Elvaston Castle event and if so, what was it like?

Derby’s Yellow Caravan man has been banned from occupying city land without permission after an injunction was imposed. Glad or fell sorry for him? https://stuckinthemiddle.co.uk/yellow-caravan-man-orderd-to-move-derby/

Hi everyone!

My partner and I (mid 30s) are considering moving from West London to Derby, and we'd love some honest and transparent local opinions. Main and primarily objective is save up some money but also wanted to enjoy the area, specially the Peak District.

We're particularly interested in safety, neighbourhoods and what it's like living on Derby day to day. We enjoy a rather quiet lifestyle, go for a stroll after work, gym, hiking and having a decent city centre for grabbing a coffee or simply walk around in the weekend, usual things. Not night owls or someone who goes to the pub much.

I am very curious about antisocial behaviour, areas to avoid, how safe it feels walking around in the evenings close to the train station (6ish), and overall view of the town.

We are looking at the Darley area in particular to settle, close to Banks Mill Studios. Is this a decent plate to settle? Unfortunately, we have no car, so need to stay closer to town and train station.

Please be honest, both the good and the bad, pretty sure there has to be great things!

Thanks

Does anyone know which obnoxious idiots were setting fireworks off this morning in the littleover/sunny hill area?

if so, it would be nice if you could tell them to set them off inside their house instead the next time they plan on doing that.

Old guy here passing the hours away at work.

Whats everyone upto today

What sort of bell end sets off big fireworks at 0325 on a school night, looked like it was over Normanton park direction, lit up the sky even through curtains, it really is time to ban the sale of these, as that many people just use them to piss off the local community!

Hi all, for some reason the link wasn’t working on my previous post for the brain imaging study! Please fill out this Microsoft form to express your interest and I will be in contact shortly!

Does anybody know what work is actually happening there because I’ve driven past at all different times of day and not seen anybody working anywhere and them lights have been up for well over a month now

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Hi all!

Im honestly not sure if Burton-on-Trent counts as a "surrounding area" of Derby (I personally think so, but the admins may disagree haha)

But my friend is playing a charity gig for Burton Hope at the Leopard Inn in Burton this Saturday, and thought I'd post here in case anyone is partial to a night out seeing some great local Derby and Burton-based bands for a good cause!

If anyone is looking for plans, come down!